Simultaneously developing laminar flow in an isothermal micro-tube with slip flow models

In this study, a two-dimensional steady state simultaneously developing laminar flow inside a micro-tube is investigated numerically under slip flow conditions. The first and second-order slip flow models have been implemented for the case where the viscous dissipation and axial conduction are included and a constant wall temperature boundary condition is specified. The results are obtained for several combinations of the Knudsen number Kn, the coefficient β and the Brinkman number Br. The study reveals a significant impact of slip flow and temperature jump on the hydrodynamic and thermal fields. A comparison of the first and second-order slip flow shows a considerable variation of the hydrodynamic flow and a weak impact on the thermal field particularly when the flow is fully developed.     

Study of airflow in a cold-region tunnel using a standard k − ε turbulence model and air-rock heat transfer characteristics: validation of the CFD results

An efficient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method for simulating the flow and convective heat transfer process of airflow in a tunnel is required to analyze the freezing and thawing of surrounding rock and to apply the results to the design of the insulation layer for a tunnel located in a cold region. Comparisons of experimental data and CFD results using a standard k ? ε turbulence model, a wall function, a thermal function and an adaptive finite element method are presented. Comparison of the results indicated that the proposed model and simulation method are efficient at determining the solid–air interface heat coefficient in a thin and infinitely wide horizontal plate and the hydrodynamic and thermal fields in a 3-D cavity. After demonstrating that the necessary validations are satisfied, this paper presents an analysis of the characteristics of airflow and air–rock heat transfer in a cold-region tunnel.     

Transonic Euler computation in streamfunction co-ordinates

Numerical simulation by a finite element method is used to examine the problem of the rotating flow of a viscoelastic fluid in a cylindrical vessel agitated with a paddle impeller. The mathematical model consists of a viscoelastic constitutive equation of Oldroyd B type coupled to the hydrodynamic equations expressed in a rotating frame. This system is solved by using an unsteady approach for velocity, pressure and stress fields. For Reynolds numbers in the range 0.1–10, viscoelastic effects are taken into account up to a Deborah number De of 1.33 and viscoelasticity and inertia cross-effects are studied. Examining the velocity and stress fields as well as the power consumption, it is found that their evolutions are significantly different for low and moderate inertia. These results confirm the trends of experimental studies and show the specific contribution of elasticity without interference of the pseudoplastic character found in actual fluids.     

Experimental investigations of the unsteady rotating flow field in a cylindrical vessel

The rotating flow field in a cylindrical vessel — the so-called whirlpool — is widely used in food engineering as a method for separating particles out of a suspension (Cup-of-tea-method). However many of these whirlpools do not operate adequately or fail entirely. In order to solve this problem, the first step was to investigate the flow field and its time dependency which has not been sufficiently understood until now.The rotating flow in a cylindrical vessel — induced by a fluid jet during the filling period of this vessel — is slowed down by fluid friction after the closing of the inlet valve. The velocity fields to be found mainly near, and pressure distributions at the bottom of the vessel, are measured during this unsteady flow. The results, especially those which describe vortex systems, are used to improve the separation system. This paper is restricted to the hydrodynamic aspect. Therefore success in industrial applications can only be indicated.     

The Braginskii model of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. I. Effects of self-generated magnetic fields and thermal conduction in two dimensions

There exists a substantial disagreement between computer simulation results and high-energy density laboratory experiments of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability [1]. Motivated by the observed discrepancies in morphology and growth rates, we attempt to bring simulations and experiments into better agreement by extending the classic purely hydrodynamic model to include self-generation of magnetic fields and anisotropic thermal conduction.We adopt the Braginskii formulation for transport in hot, dense plasma, implement and verify the additional physics modules, and conduct a computational study of a single-mode RTI in two dimensions with various combinations of the newly implemented modules. We analyze physics effects on the RTI mixing and flow morphology, the effects of mutual physics interactions, and the evolution of magnetic fields.We find that magnetic fields reach levels on the order of 11 MG (plasma β ≈ 9.1 × 10^?2) in the absence of thermal conduction. These fields do not affect the growth of the mixed layer but substantially modify its internal structure on smaller scales. In particular, we observe denting of the RT spike tip and generation of additional higher order modes as a result of these fields. Contrary to interpretation presented in earlier work [2], the additional mode is not generated due to modified anisotropic heat transport effects but due to dynamical effect of self-generated magnetic fields. The overall flow morphology in self-magnetized, non-conducting models is qualitatively different from models with a pre-existing uniform field oriented perpendicular to the interface. This puts the usefulness of simple MHD models for interpreting the evolution of self-magnetizing HED systems with zero-field initial conditions into doubt.The main effects of thermal conduction are a reduction of the RT instability growth rate (by about 20% for conditions considered here) and inhibited mixing on small scales. In this case, the maximum self-generated magnetic fields are weaker (approximately 1.7 MG; plasma β ≈ 49). This is due to reduction of temperature and density gradients due to conduction. These self-generated magnetic fields are of very similar strength compared to magnetic fields observed recently in HED laboratory experiments [3].We find that thermal conduction plays the dominant role in the evolution of the model RTI system considered. It smears out small-scale structure and reduces the RTI growth rate. This may account for the relatively featureless RT spikes seen in experiments, but does not explain mass extensions observed in experiments.Resistivity, related heat source terms and the thermo-electric contribution to the heat flow were not included in the present work. We estimate their impact on RTI as modest and not affecting our main conclusions. These effects will be discussed in detail in the next paper in the series.     

Investigation of dense slurry suspensions with coaxial mixers: Influences of design variables through tomography and mathematical modelling

The coaxial mixers enhance the suspension of concentrated slurries in an agitated reactor. In this research work, the complex slurry suspension and dissemination behavior in a coaxial slurry mixing system (comprised of a close clearance anchor rotating with a low speed and an inner axial impeller rotating with a high speed) was analyzed employing ERT (electrical resistance tomography, a non-intrusive flow visualization technique), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The numerical models were validated by comparing the axial solid concentration profiles generated using the ERT data and the CFD simulation results. The influences of various important parameters such as the diameter of the inner axial impeller, the inner impeller type, and the inner impeller spacing on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the slurry suspensions in a coaxial mixing vessel were thoroughly analyzed. The radial and axial velocity profiles of solid particles were generated using the validated mathematical models. The assessment of energy loss due to the solid–solid collisions, the particle–fluid frictions, and the particle–vessel wall collisions was conducted. The evaluation of optimum inner impeller clearance and inner impeller diameter is essential to attain a high degree of solids suspension and dissemination in a coaxial slurry mixing system.     

The characteristics of gas–solid flow and wall heat transfer in a fluidized bed reactor

Numerical study using computational fluid dynamics has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of a laboratory fluidized bed reactor. The fluidized bed reactor of vTI (Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute)-Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology is modeled. For the simulation of multiphase flow and thermal fields, an Eulerian–Eulerian approach is applied. The flow and thermal characteristics of the reactor are fully investigated for the wide range of superficial gas velocities and two different particle diameters. In particular, the contributions of the gas bubble and emulsion phase flows on the wall heat transfer are scrutinized. From the predicted results, it is fully elucidated that particular near-wall bubble motions mainly govern the wall heat transfer.     

Reciprocity in elastic media with rheology

The classic reciprocity theorem of Betti (Nuovo Cimento 2(VII–VIII):69–97, 1872) for perfectly elasto-static media has been extended to the dynamic fields by Graffi (Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. IV(18):173–200, 1939) for isotropic media with variable density. In this note the theorem is extended to a wide class of media with rheology.     

Effect of particles on turbulent thermal field of channel flow with different Prandtl numbers

The direct numerical simulation(DNS) of heat transfer in a fully developed non-isothermal particle-laden turbulent channel flow is performed.The focus of this paper is on the modulation of the particles on turbulent thermal statistics in the particle-laden flow with three Prandtl numbers(P r = 0.71,1.5,and 3.0) and a shear Reynolds number(Reτ = 180).Some typical thermal statistics,including normalized mean temperature and their fluctuations,turbulent heat fluxes,Nusselt number and so on,are analyzed.The results show that the particles have less effects on turbulent thermal fields with the increase of Prandtl number.Two reasons can explain this.First,the correlation between fluid thermal field and velocity field decreases as the Prandtl number increases,and the modulation of turbulent velocity field induced by the particles has less influence on the turbulent thermal field.Second,the heat exchange between turbulence and particles decreases for the particle-laden flow with the larger Prandtl number,and the thermal feedback of the particles to turbulence becomes weak.     

Evaluation of the dimensionless groups based scale-up of gas–solid spouted beds

In this work, the scale-up methodology of He et al. (1997) that is based on maintaining similar or close dimensionless groups in gas–solid spouted beds has been evaluated. Two geometrically similar spouted beds of 0.152 m and 0.076 m diameter have been used. It has been demonstrated experimentally, that there is non-similarity in the local hydrodynamic parameters such as solids holdup and dimensionless solids velocity, when all the dimensionless groups have been matched or close to each other in the two studied spouted beds. This confirms that the global hydrodynamic parameters should not be used to confirm the validity of or to evaluate the dimensionless groups scale-up based methodologies.     

LOW-FREQUENCY RESPONSES OF NONLINEARLY MOORED VESSELS IN RANDOM WAVES: COUPLED SURGE,PITCH AND HEAVE MOTIONS

The responses of a multi-degree-of-freedom model of a moored vessel are analysed, accounting for the hydroelastic interaction between the nonlinear wave hydrodynamics and the nonlinear mooring stiffness. A two-scale perturbation method developed by Sarkar & Eatock Taylor to determine low-frequency hydrodynamic forces on a single-degree-of-freedom model of a nonlinearly moored vessel has been extended to analyse the nonlinear multi-degree-of-freedom dynamics of the system. Surge, heave and pitch motions are considered. The perturbation equations of successive orders are derived. To illustrate the approach, semi-analytical expressions for the higher-order hydrodynamic force components have been obtained for a truncated circular cylinder in finite water depth. In addition to conventional quadratic force transfer functions, a new type of higher-order force transfer function is introduced. This is used to characterize the hydrodynamic forces on the vessel which arise due to nonlinearity of the mooring stiffness. These are a type of radiation force, generated by the nonlinear interaction of the fluid–structure coupled system. Based on a Volterra series model, the power spectral densities of the new higher-order forces are then derived for the case of Gaussian random seas. It is shown that the additional response arising due to nonlinear dynamics of the mooring system can significantly contribute to low-frequency drift forces and responses of the vessel. Unlike conventional non-Gaussian second-order forces which are quadratic transformations of a Gaussian random process, the new higher-order forces arising due to the nonlinear mooring stiffness are polynomials of a Gaussian random process (up to fourth order for a Duffing oscillator model). This may significantly influence the extreme responses.     

Convection heat transfer of closely-spaced spheres with surface blowing

A validated computer simulation model has been developed for the analysis of colinear spheres in a heated gas stream. Using the Galerkin finite element method, the steady-state Navier-Stokes and heat transfer equations have been solved describing laminar axisymmetric thermal flow past closely-spaced monodisperse spheres with fluid injection. Of interest are the coupled nonlinear interaction effects on the temperature fields and ultimately on the Nusselt number of each sphere for different free stream Reynolds numbers (20 ≤Re ≤ 200) and intersphere distances (1.5 ≤d _ij ≤ 6.0) in the presence of surface blowing (0 ≤v _b < 0.1). Fluid injection (i.e. blowing) and associated wake effects generate lower average heat transfer coefficients for each interacting sphere when the Reynolds number increases (Re>100). Heat transfer is also reduced at small spacings especially for the second and third sphere. A Nusselt number correlation for each interacting (porous) sphere has been developed based on computer experiments.     

Novel material tailoring method for internally pressurized FG spherical and cylindrical vessels

A new material tailoring method for spherical and cylindrical vessels made of functionally graded materials (FGMs) is presented. It is assumed that the FG material is composed of an Al–SiC metallic-matrix composite. A uniform ratio of in-plane shear stress to yield strength [\(\varphi \left( r \right) \)] is used as the design criterion to utilize the maximum capacity of the vessel. The aim is to find a distribution of SiC particles in the radial direction, i.e., \(f\left( r \right) \), that achieves a uniform index \(\varphi \left( r \right) =\hbox {const}.\) through the wall thickness of the internally pressurized spherical or cylindrical vessel. Both the Mori–Tanaka and rule-of-mixtures homogenization schemes are used to express the effective elastic module and Poisson’s ratio. Moreover, the strength of the composite is expressed based on the rule of mixtures. Besides, finite element simulation is carried out to verify the accuracy of the analytical solution. The effects of input parameters such as the internal pressure, strength of the SiC particles, ratio of in-plane shear stress to effective yield strength, and choice of homogenization scheme on the tailored distribution of the SiC volume fraction in the radial direction are also investigated.     

Three‐dimensional finite element modelling of coupled free/porous flows: applications to industrial and environmental flows

Conjunctive modelling of free/porous flows provides a powerful and cost‐effective tool for designing industrial filters used in the process industry and also for quantifying surface–subsurface flow interactions, which play a significant role in urban flooding mechanisms resulting from sea‐level rise and climate changes. A number of well‐established schemes are available in the literature for simulation of such regimes; however, three‐dimensional (3D) modelling of such flow systems still presents numerical and practical challenges. This paper presents the development of a fully 3D, transient finite element model for the prediction and quantitative analyses of the hydrodynamic behaviour encountered in industrial filtrations and environmental flows represented by coupled flows. The weak‐variational formulation in this model is based on the use of C⁰ continuous equal‐order Lagrange polynomial functions for velocity and pressure fields represented by 3D hexahedral finite elements. A mixed UVWP finite element scheme based on the standard Galerkin technique satisfying the Ladyzhenskaya–Babuska–Brezzi stability criterion through incorporation of an artificial compressibility term in the continuity equation has been employed for the solution of coupled partial differential equations. We prove that the discretization generates unified stabilization for both the Navier–Stokes and Darcy equations and preserves the geometrical flexibility of the computational grids. A direct node‐linking procedure involving the rearrangement of the global stiffness matrix for the interface elements has been developed by the authors, which is utilized to couple the governing equations in a single model. A variety of numerical tests are conducted, indicating that the model is capable of yielding theoretically expected and accurate results for free, porous and coupled free/porous problems encountered in industrial and environmental engineering problems representing complex filtration (dead‐end and cross‐flow) and interacting surface–subsurface flows. The model is computationally cost‐effective, robust, reliable and easily implementable for practical design of filtration equipments, investigation of land use for water resource availability and assessment of the impacts of climatic variations on environmental catastrophes (i.e. coastal and urban floods). The model developed in this work results from the extension of a multi‐disciplinary project (AEROFIL) primarily sponsored by the European aerospace industries for development of a computer simulation package (Aircraft Cartridge Filter Analysis Modelling Program), which was successfully utilized and deployed for designing hydraulic dead‐end filters used in Airbus A380.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of particle splitting method for both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic cases in SPH

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH) method with numerical diffusive terms shows satisfactory stability and accuracy in some violent fluid–solid interaction problems. However, in most simulations, uniform particle distributions are used and the multi-resolution, which can obviously improve the local accuracy and the overall computational efficiency, has seldom been applied. In this paper, a dynamic particle splitting method is applied and it allows for the simulation of both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic problems. The splitting algorithm is that, when a coarse(mother) particle enters the splitting region, it will be split into four daughter particles, which inherit the physical parameters of the mother particle. In the particle splitting process,conservations of mass, momentum and energy are ensured. Based on the error analysis, the splitting technique is designed to allow the optimal accuracy at the interface between the coarse and refined particles and this is particularly important in the simulation of hydrostatic cases. Finally, the scheme is validated by five basic cases, which demonstrate that the present SPH model with a particle splitting technique is of high accuracy and efficiency and is capable for the simulation of a wide range of hydrodynamic problems.Smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH)method with numerical diffusive terms shows satisfactory stability and accuracy in some violent fluid–solid interaction problems.However,in most simulations,uniform particle distributions are used and the multi-resolution,which can obviously improve the local accuracy and the overall computational efficiency,has seldom been applied.In this paper,a dynamic particle splitting method is applied and it allows for the simulation of both hydrostatic and hydrodynamic problems.The splitting algorithm is that,when a coarse(mother)particle enters the splitting region,it will be split into four daughter particles,which inherit the physical parameters of the mother particle.In the particle splitting process,conservations of mass,momentum and energy are ensured.Based on the error analysis,the splitting technique is designed to allow the optimal accuracy at the interface between the coarse and refined particles and this is particularly important in the simulation of hydrostatic cases.Finally,the scheme is validated by five basic cases,which demonstrate that the present SPH model with a particle splitting technique is of high accuracy and efficiency and is capable for the simulation of a wide range of hydrodynamic problems.     

Geometrical Properties of the Resolved-Scale Velocity and Temperature Fields Predicted using Large-Eddy Simulation

In this paper, local geometrical properties of the velocity and temperature fields of combined forced and natural convection in a vertical slot are studied using large-eddy simulation based on both numerical and analytical approaches. Previous studies on turbulence geometrical statistics appearing in the literature have primarily focused on either isothermal or isotropic turbulent flows; whereas in this work, we extend the scope of research to investigation of a wall-bounded thermal flow. In particular, we focus on studying the resolved helicity, enstrophy generation, local vortex stretching, and a variety of characteristic geometrical alignment patterns between the resolved velocity, vorticity, temperature gradient, subgrid-scale heat flux and the eigenvectors of the resolved strain rate tensor. In order to quantify the effect of buoyancy on the geometrical properties of the thermal flow field, a systematic comparative analysis has been conducted based on three different flow regimes (i.e., viscous sublayer, buffer layer and logarithmic layer) in both the hot and cold wall regions. The near-wall restriction on the geometrical property of the thermal flow field has been analyzed and some interesting wall-limiting geometrical alignment patterns in the form of Dirac delta functions are also reported.     

DNS,LES and RANS of turbulent heat transfer in boundary layer with suddenly changing wall thermal conditions

The objectives of this study are to investigate a thermal field in a turbulent boundary layer with suddenly changing wall thermal conditions by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS), and to evaluate predictions of a turbulence model in such a thermal field, in which DNS of spatially developing boundary layers with heat transfer can be conducted using the generation of turbulent inflow data as a method. In this study, two types of wall thermal condition are investigated using DNS and predicted by large eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation simulation (RANS). In the first case, the velocity boundary layer only develops in the entrance of simulation, and the flat plate is heated from the halfway point, i.e., the adiabatic wall condition is adopted in the entrance, and the entrance region of thermal field in turbulence is simulated. Then, the thermal boundary layer develops along a constant temperature wall followed by adiabatic wall. In the second case, velocity and thermal boundary layers simultaneously develop, and the wall thermal condition is changed from a constant temperature to an adiabatic wall in the downstream region. DNS results clearly show the statistics and structure of turbulent heat transfer in a constant temperature wall followed by an adiabatic wall. In the first case, the entrance region of thermal field in turbulence can be also observed. Thus, both the development and the entrance regions in thermal fields can be explored, and the effects upstream of the thermal field on the adiabatic region are investigated. On the other hand, evaluations of predictions by LES and RANS are conducted using DNS results. The predictions of both LES and RANS almost agree with the DNS results in both cases, but the predicted temperature variances near the wall by RANS give different results as compared with DNS. This is because the dissipation rate of temperature variance is difficult to predict by the present RANS, which is found by the evaluation using DNS results.     

Study of semidilute fibre suspension rheology with lattice-Boltzmann method

A hybrid lattice-Boltzmann numerical simulation method is undertaken to study the rheology of non-colloidal, rigid fibres in sheared, semidilute Newtonian suspension. The viscosity and the first normal stress difference are calculated with the combined use of numerical fibre orientation information and a corrected form of the slender body theory of Batchelor (J Fluid Mech Digit Arch 46(4):813–829, 1971). The corrections make the theory applicable in semidilute suspension flow (Shaqfeh and Fredrickson, Phys Fluids A: Fluid Dyn 2(1):7–24, 1990) with fibres of finite aspect ratio. The corrected theory within its framework, based on spacing among fibres in semidilute suspension, only considers hydrodynamic interactions among fibres and inferences that the effect of actual fibre–fibre mechanical contacts on rheological properties of such suspension systems remains inconsequential. To investigate this issue, the rheological properties of semidilute suspension were calculated directly from the numerical simulation. This approach accounted for both hydrodynamic and mechanical interactions among fibres. This direct measurement proved that the mechanical interactions increase both the relative shear viscosity and the first normal stress difference in the semidilute suspension to values which are larger than permissible within the framework of Batchelor’s theory.     

Series solutions for steady three-dimensional stagnation point flow of a nanofluid past a circular cylinder with sinusoidal radius variation

This article deals with the study of the steady three-dimensional stagnation point flow of a nanofluid past a circular cylinder that has a sinusoidal radius variation. By means of similarity transformation, the governing partial differential equations are reduced into highly non-linear ordinary differential equations. The resulting non-linear system has been solved analytically using an efficient technique namely homotopy analysis method (HAM). Expressions for velocity and temperature fields are developed in series form. In this study, three different types of nanoparticles are considered, namely alumina (Al₂O₃), titania (TiO₂), and copper (Cu) with water as the base fluid. For alumina–water nanofluid, graphical results are presented to describe the influence of the nanoparticle volume fraction φ and the ratio of the gradient of velocities c on the velocity and temperature fields. Moreover, the features of the flow and heat transfer characteristics are analyzed and discussed for foregoing nanofluids. It is found that the skin friction coefficient and the heat transfer rate at the surface are highest for copper–water nanofluid compared to the alumina–water and titania–water nanofluids.